The battle against Shadow Sae and Cognitive Makoto was finally about to begin. Shadow Sae was intent on doing things her way, since they were in HER casino after all. Even if they didn't want to abide by the rules she set, that was fine with her. They would learn their place sooner or later. "Alright guys, let's do this!" Oracle exclaimed, but the moment she did, Shadow Sae acted.
"Now then, let's begin!" Shadow Sae pointed her finger forward and the roulette around them began to spin.
"W-What is this?" Dragon questioned while looking at the spinning roulette wheel.
"Now let us play a game of roulette. The stakes will be our lives." Shadow Sae explained. Even on the display above them, the cost was 'vitality'. "Of course, acts of violence are forbidden here. One must follow the rules."
"We already told you! We ain't followin' your damn rules!" Skull said while being the first person to rush forward.
"Skull, wait!" Mona shouted to try and stop Skull, but it was too late.
Cognitive Makoto was about to lunge to intercept Skull, but Shadow Sae held her hand up to stop her. "That's fine by me. Such troublesome people will just face the penalty."
"FACE THIS!" Skull said while swinging his club directly for Shadow Sae's cheek. It was a direct hit and the Palace Ruler's head violently snapped to the side from the impact. There was a bruise on her cheek from the strike, but she looked unfazed despite that.
"Thank you for volunteering to be an example. It's always the rough types like you that need a heathy dose of punishment." Shadow Sae mused before snapping her fingers.
"What the hell are you-?" Before Skull could react, an invisible force struck him, causing him to recoil and it did a heavy amount of damage to him as well. "Gah-!?" And before he even had the chance to recover from that, Cognitive Makoto swiftly moved in, striking Skull with a kick to his stomach that sent him tumbling across the floor until he came to a halt on his back, groaning in agony. "Agh…ow…"
"Are you okay?!" Panther knelt down to summon Hecate, using healing spell to mitigate the damage Skull sustained.
Cognitive Makoto held her follow through for a moment, before returning to an idle stance. "Do you understand now, Phantom Thieves? It would behoove you to follow the rules, unless you want to end up like your friend there."
"It appears as though we don't have a choice but to comply." Crow stroked his chin.
"Yeah, but I'm positive she's going to try and cheat." Mona mentioned. It was pretty clear that Shadow Sae would do whatever it took to emerge victorious. "Even if we bring it up, she'll just ignore us." He could tell by glancing at Shadow Sae's cocky smile. They were playing her game, so of course she would do whatever she could to ensure they lost.
"Then let's play her game." Joker said with a nod. "If she's going to cheat, then we'll just have to catch her in the act."
"That way she can't lie her way out of it!" Noir exclaimed.
"An excellent idea." Fox was on board with this plan.
Queen stared at Shadow Sae and Cognitive Makoto before nodding. "Alright, let's play."
"I knew you'd see it my way." Shadow Sae mused. "Place your bets!"
Joker had to think about the options. If Shadow Sae was going to cheat, it didn't make sense to go for a high risk, high reward bet. That would just benefit Shadow Sae. "I bet the ball will fall on a black tile."
"Is that your decision? Then let's see the results!" Shadow Sae exclaimed. A white ball rolled in from the outer edge and rolled into the roulette. As the wheel slowed down, the ball did stop on a black tile, but it lingered in the air for a split second before rolling into a red tile. "Looks like you lose!" And they had to pay the price. Everyone cried out in surprise as their vitality was drained from them and funneled into Shadow Sae, healing the bruise that Skull left on her.
"Looks like that safe bet was the good choice…" Dragon grimaced. Having her vitality sucked from her so suddenly was not an enjoyable feeling. "But…did anyone else see that?"
"Yeah." Joker nodded. "I know how she's cheating."
"You do?" Panther blinked. "How? I didn't notice anything…"
"The ball lingered in the air for a split second…" Dragon explained. "It must be due to a glass lid. I bet they're on all the tiles, so no matter what we choose, it will always roll onto something that doesn't benefit us."
Crow looked on at Shadow Sae's arrogant smirk. "How humiliating…"
"Let's catch her in the act so she can't talk her way out of it!" Oracle suggested. "If someone snipes the glass when the ball lands on it…! So I think we should have Dragon-"
"Leave it to me!" Noir said with a firm nod. This made everyone sweat.
"Um, Noir. Maybe we shouldn't use something so destructive…." Queen tried to object, but Noir wanted to do this.
"Trust me!" And Noir was already going. This was…not the most inspiring sniper they could have used. The girl with the rocket launcher was going to snipe, as opposed to the girl with the literal sniper rifle. Well, it was too late to back out now. Noir was already looking to get into position.
"…?" Cognitive Makoto noticed Noir slipping away. Shadow Sae was too fixated on the roulette to worry about a single one of them leaving. Not trusting this, Cognitive Makoto also decided to back out and circle around to strike Noir. Queen noticed this as well, but Noir did not for she was too busy taking aim.
"Now then, shall we bet again?" Shadow Sae pointed her finger forward yet again. This time she was upping the bet; vitality AND money!
"She's betting money this time!?" Fox gasped. "I certainly hope we can emerge victorious. If I lose the rest of my money here, I won't have anything for new paint supplies."
"Uh, what about food instead?" Skull groaned. The time for joking was over, as the roulette began to spin again. Shadow Sae's game was to bleed the Phantom Thieves dry without even needing to lift a finger. "Here we go again…Joker?"
If this was going to work, Joker had to place faith in Noir. So he did and decided to go for the higher risk reward. If the ball was going to land against them every time with cheating, then a well-timed shot would shift the bet in their favor. "Pockets 13 through 24." Joker said firmly.
"Heh, I hope your prediction is correct." Shadow Sae mused, knowing full well it wouldn't be. But that was the enjoyment she got out of this 'fight'. The roulette started to slow as the ball rolled along the pockets…
And as Noir was taking aim, Cognitive Makoto leapt forward to try and disrupt her shot. "I see you!"
"Huh-!?" Noir turned to the sound of Cognitive Makoto's voice, her eyes wide to see a kick coming her way. Luckily for Noir, Queen intercepted the cognitive copy of herself by slamming into her with Anat, driving past Noir in the process.
"Take the shot!" Queen shouted. Anat vanished and she stood in front of her scowling cognitive self. The self that was a mixture of her past self, and her current desire to truly protect her own sister. It was like staring into an odd mirror.
Noir nodded and focused again in the nick of time. The ball bounced on pocket 13 and she clicked the trigger. "Firing!" The rocket barreled from her weapon, exploding against the glass lid. Since the ball was already in the air, it fell into the pocket snugly. "Looks like we win this bet."
The rules were the rules. Even though Shadow Sae tried to manipulate them in her favor, they still took an effect on her. She recoiled as she lost some of her vitality. What she stole from the Phantom Thieves was returned to them, and the bruise reappeared on her cheek. Not only that, but she dropped a considerable amount of yen in the process of all of this. The shock was so great she collapsed to a knee. "WH-WHAT!?"
"Heh! Joker!" Oracle smirked.
"On it!" Joker noded to the others (excluding the preoccupied Queen) and they sprang into position. The group surrounded the kneeling Shadow Sae, pointing their guns at her.
"What was that about fair and square! You were totally cheating!" Oracle exclaimed.
"Take it from me, you do not get far when you use foul tactics." Dragon said.
"Nnh…" Shadow Sae could not muster a response.
"Did the cat get your tongue?" Crow asked. "You've suddenly become timid."
"Shut up…SHUT UUUUP!" Shadow Sae screamed. A violently shockwave erupted from Shadow Sae, pushing everyone near her backwards. She was surrounded in darkness and when she emerged, she was something else entirely: an armored woman with a broadsword in one hand, and a Gatling gun arm as the other.
Queen looked away from her Cognitive self, but the two of them had identical expressions of horrified shock. "S-SIS!?" Queen gasped.
"Cheating!? Unfair!? SILENCE! THIS IS MY WORLD!" Shadow Sae screamed, swinging her sword around haphazardly. It had a long reach and she was having a violent outburst. As such, everyone found themselves on the defensive, avoiding her wide slashes as best they could. "I AM THE LAW! I AM EVERYTHING! NO ONE IN THIS WORLD DESERVES TO WIN EXCEPT ME! If you still dare to defy my justice, then prepare to be totally crushed!"
"Holy…." Panther couldn't muster a response. "I-I think I liked her before this…"
Queen was both crushed and heartbroken. "T-This is my sister's true nature…" She had no idea it was this bad…
"I'll help you, Sis!" Cognitive Makoto sprang into action, but Shadow Sae didn't care. Actually…
"GET OUT OF MY WAY, MAKOTO!" Shadow Sae swung her arm at Cognitive Makoto. This action caught the cognitive being off guard and she was struck, slammed into one of the roulette pockets. "You're useless to me right now! You can't do a single thing, so stay out of my way!"
"…!" Queen gasped audibly at what she just witnessed.
"S-Sis…" Cognitive Makoto winced, unable to move after that brutal hit.
"Looks like we're finally back to a normal fight now…" Oracle warned the others. "Be careful!"
"Is this…really…what you're like, Sis…?" Queen was completely stunned into silence.
"All you do is stand on the sidelines! I try so hard for you and you can't even be somewhat useful to me!" Shadow Sae turned to Queen and pointed her gun towards her. Numerous bullets shot forward and Queen was too stunned at the horrific transformation of her Sister's shadow.
"Queen!" Joker shouted while throwing out his grappling hook, attaching it to Queen and quickly pulling her down from the outer edge of the roulette and to the ground so the bullets missed. Shadow Sae wasn't going to let them escape that easily and raised her sword to slash it on Joker, but she was stopped by Dragon extending her staff to block the hit from afar. When Joker looked at Queen, she had tears stinging her eyes at the ugly truth of her sister staring in front of her. Joker grabbed Queen by the shoulders and stared directly at her. "You'll save her, right!?"
Joker shouting at Queen pulled her back from her shock and into her determination. "R-Right!"
Considering Shadow Sae's range, the group opted to use the roulette to their advantage. The circular arena, along with the outer edge having some cover in the form of small pillars helped a lot. Dragon served as the vanguard, swinging her staff at Shadow Sae's sword. This proved to not be the best idea, as Shadow Sae's strength was immense. "Venus!" Dragon called forth her Persona and Venus flew forward with her sword. Dragon used Venus to engage in a fierce clash of swords. Dragon was constantly shifting her position, moving from left to right while Venus did the same. Dragon then flipped over Shadow Sae, the blades of Venus and the palace ruler clashing in a brief stalemate. Sensing she was about to lose, Dragon merely grinned and leapt back, forcing Shadow Saw to stagger forward since her momentum was used against, because behind her…
"Hecate!" Panther was at the ready! The moment Dragon jumped back, Panther had Hecate summoned. Panther threw her hand forward, commanding Hecate to release a gigantic fireball in Shadow Sae's direction. It was a direct hit and the fireball exploded against Shadow Sae's frame.
"Gah!" Shadow Sae grunted angrily, before the roulette not only changed, but began to spin, putting everyone on guard. The various panels resembled the numerous elements the group grew accustomed with during their time in the Metaverse. "Only victory matters! To guarantee it, you have to be willing to do anything! Doesn't might make right!?" The roulette stopped on the wind panel, and that element swirled around Shadow Sae's sword before she swung it down. This sent numerous shockwaves of wind in Panther's direction.
"Huh-!?" Panther only just registered what happened. All she could do was cross her arms as blades of wind began to strike her, before ultimately, lifting her off her feet and sending her crashing somewhere. "Ow…"
"Panther…!" Dragon gasped. But she didn't realize that Shadow Sae took aim at her just as quickly, releasing an explosion shell in her direction until it was too late. "Oh crap-!" BOOM! Dragon was consumed by an explosion. Due to her resistance, she didn't tumble across the ground, but she slid back a great distance and still crashed violently.
"Holy…! Watch out, guys! She's got way more power than anyone else we've faced so far!" Oracle warned.
"No matter what happens here, I NEED to keep winning!" Shadow Sae's voice was filled with violent desperation.
"Sis, why!?" Queen asked while driving circles around Shadow Sae with Anat. "This wasn't how you used to be!"
"What does my little sister know about me!?" Shadow Sae swung her sword downward to cut Queen off. Queen narrowly evaded this by swerving to the side, driving along the edge of the roulette. She then used her momentum to fly towards Shadow Sae, but Shadow Sae blocked the revving tire with her sword.
"I know that you used to work to pull the darkness from the cracks in the law! That was the kind of justice I watched you pull off time and time again! That was the justice I admired you for!" Queen shouted, her gaze briefly going towards Cognitive Makoto, who only looked on with a pained expression. They felt the same way, even if Sae's view of her sister was still slightly wrong.
"And as the cases got harder, so did the means of victory! Justice is only absolute if it means victory! Nothing like what our father died for! It was a lofty sense of justice that left us behind to suffer!" Shadow Sae exclaimed in rage, the roulette spinning once again before landing on light. Her sword shone brightly and she overpowered Queen, slamming her into the ground. "You're just too naïve a little girl to realize the cruel reality around us!"
"Milady!"
"Robin Hood!"
Before Shadow Sae could go any further, Noir and Crow attacked with their Personas. Milady fired off a barrage of bullets, while Crow used Robin Hood to attack with numerous arrows of light from different angles. Milady struck from the back, while Crow struck from the side. "Ngh!" Shadow Sae grunted in anger from these attacks. They were racking up damage on her, but her violent desperation allowed her power through these hits. She aimed her gun at Noir and fired off a powerful explosive shell in her direction, while she violently leapt towards Crow to attack him with a light infused sword. The roulette spun at the last second, changing the element from light to fire.
"…!" Noir had no time to dodge the explosive shell coming her way and an explosion occurred on the spot. Luckily for her, Dragon recovered in time and used Aegis to block the attack. "A-Are you okay?!"
"Just fine…!" Dragon flashed a smile. Since the awakening of Venus, Aegis grew more resilient to attacks, meaning she sustained less damage in the process.
"This is troublesome!" Crow jumped to the side, but he was caught by the fiery wave of Shadow Sae's swing. "Gh…!" He was burned by the attack, but he flipped to the side and managed to land on his feet. "Oracle was serious; Sae-san's attacks are fierce and wild…"
Shadow Sae was going to change targets, but three more stepped up to volunteer. Skull, Fox, and Mona all came at her at once. Fox was the fastest and he led the charge, his mask burning away as he struck first. "Kamu-Susano-o!" Fox summoned his Persona, and instead of it attacking Sae, it instead froze the ground in front of Fox, and it spread to cover Shadow Sae's feet and immobilize her.
"W-What!?" Shadow Sae struggled to move at first, but then she just raised her blazing sword to melt the ice. The moment she did, Fox, Skull, and Mona took advantage of this opening.
"Seitan Taisei!"
"Zorro!"
"Kamu-Susano-o!"
Seitan Taisei attacked with a strong bolt of lightning that shocked Shadow Sae. She grit her teeth as Skull came near and fired a blazing bullet his direction. Skull crossed his arms to block the attack, but the sheer force of it knocked him away. Kamu-Susano-o struck next with a swift flurry of slashes. Fox didn't escape this unscathed, as Shadow Sae was able to slice him with her blazing sword. Due to the effective element, Fox was knocked down afterwards. She tried this again with Mona, but his small form allowed him to weave past the slash with the leap, Zorro appearing to slash at Shadow Sae's back with a wind infused slashed. "GAH!" Shadow Sae screamed before spinning around, her gun just hitting Mona into the wall.
The Phantom Thieves were not giving Shadow Sae much time to rest. As soon as she dealt with the three boys, Queen and Panther were shooting at her with their guns. The bullet struck and Shadow Sae fell to a knee. "I know how painful it was for you when Dad died, that was the day you changed. Do you think I didn't see it!? But what was I supposed to do, you wouldn't talk to me about anything from that day on!"
Shadow Sae growled before pushing herself into the air, shooting off numerous rockets towards Panther and Queen. Oracle protected them with a green barrier, causing the missiles to harmlessly explode against it. "I don't think so!"
"Arsene!" Joker attacked Sae from behind. A thick blast of darkness struck Shadow Sae from behind, causing her to stagger forward angrily. When she turned around, she saw Joker approaching her. The roulette switched around from fire to ice and she attempted to bring her sword down on the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but he slipped under her with a slide between her legs. Joker aimed his gun at Shadow Sae as he used his sleek form to dance around her, aiming a few pot shots here and there while avoiding the wide, violent swings of his sword. He then used his grapping hook to attack to her, slip under her legs once more, and used this momentum to propel himself into the air above her.
"You're open!" Shadow Sae grinned madly while aiming her gun at the airborne Joker.
"Am I?" Joker asked while falling to the ground. Shadow Sae understood his meaning immediately, as Dragon's extended staff slammed onto her gun arm, knocking her aim down to the floor. As this happened, Joker shot a smoke ball from his gun. The smoke ball hit Shadow Sae, obscuring her sight.
"Agh…!" Shadow Sae grunted. Noir leapt in from above, aiming her axe towards Shadow Sae's back. Somehow, Shadow Sae was able to turn and block this with her sword, but it was a messy attempt that made her lose ground.
While she was occupied, Queen used this chance to ram Anat into her, carrying her across the roulette arena in the process. "And can't you see the Phantom Thieves are trying to do the same thing you once did!? Did you forget how you felt when you became a prosecutor!?" Shadow Sae dug her heels into the ground, stopping Queen's charge. The two were in a stalemate; Queen pushing forward while Shadow Sae refused to budge. They stared directly at each other during the process of it all.
"If I may be allowed to chime in…" Crow said from afar. "I have to agree with the collective. I miss the old you as well, Sae-san. The calm and collected one; not this hotheaded one that will do whatever it takes to obtain victory. Is this truly the person you want to become?"
"I HAVE TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES! BECAUSE THAT IS MY JUSTICE!" Shadow Sae screamed as numerous orbs of energy started to float around her. She cast Megidola out of sheer range, beams of energy raining down on the Phantom Thieves wildly. The ferocity of the attack caught the group by surprise and they were caught up within the numerous explosions that took place, all flying in separate directions.
"Gah, what the hell man!?" Skull groaned.
"She's like a wounded animal…" Fox said while wincing. "Baring her fangs…doing whatever it takes to survive and win…"
"Has she really been like this the whole time…" Queen grit her teeth. Somehow, Cognitive Makoto wasn't caught up in that attack, but it was probably out of sheer luck. Shadow Sae didn't have a concern for anything but herself and victory right now.
The roulette spun once again, this time landing on Almighty. Shadow Sae leapt into the air and fired off a large number of rockets and bullets from her gun, going absolutely wild with her fire. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
"Take cover!" Mona shouted. Everyone had to dodge the bullets and explosions, but that was easier said than done. Nobody was going to escape this attack unscathed at this rate.
"…!" Queen now noticed that Cognitive Makoto was not safe from this attack. Despite it only being a cognition, it was still herself, and she knew above all else…there was no way Sae would truly feel good about hurting her sister in any way. So whatever came her way, she took to protect that cognition.
Dragon grit her teeth before running into the center of the roulette as her masked burned away. "Venus, Aegis!" Venus appeared and rapidly spun her sword in a clockwise rotation, a shield symbol appearing under Shadow Sae and all her explosives. Dragon was taking the damage in everyone's stead, and even with her improvements, it was still a lot. When she felt she reached her limit the shield vanished, but Venus's sword lit up in a bright hue. "It's time to strike back!" Venus used all that damage Dragon accumulated and returned it to Shadow Sae in the form of a vicious shockwave slash.
"…!?" Shadow Sae was not prepared for an attack like this. It struck her body and she cried out, crashing to the ground violently in the process.
Dragon almost fell forward from taking that much damage, but Panther caught her. "Dragon…!"
"I-I'm okay…" Dragon flashed Panther a smile. "I'm the shield of the Phantom Thieves; it will take much more than that to make me collapse…!"
"I…have to win…" Shadow Sae picked herself up. "I can win…I WILL win! Winning is all that matters…" She clung to the concept of victory while looking around at the injured Phantom Thieves. Queen had her attention, because she protected Cognitive Makoto despite everything. "What are you doing…?"
"Why did you…" Cognitive Makoto questioned. "Sis was…"
Queen was roughed up from that previous attack, numerous tears in her outfit along with some cuts from the bullets. Despite that, she stood firm. "I have to prove to you that this version of me in your Palace…is far from the me that I am now. You berate me for not knowing anything about you, but you haven't once taken notice of how I changed before your very eyes, Sis! I'm always in your corner, ready to fight you, so you have to believe that I'm here to help you! What's so hard to believe about that!?"
"You, help me!? You've never been any help to me since Dad died! All you do is eat away at my life! You're useless to me, Makoto! If you won't help me win, then you don't have any purpose in my life!" Shadow Sae yelled, clanging her sword and gun together.
Those words stung just as hard as they did the first time she heard them. Queen tightened her hand into a fist. "I'm not useless." She said firmly, while the others watched on. "I've already decided what I'm going to do with my life, Sis. I'm going to follow in Dad's footsteps and become a police officer. The justice he followed…that was the justice you followed too, and that's the justice I intend to keep up, whether you like it!"
Shadow Sae was dumbstruck by this. Makoto wanted to follow in their father's footsteps?! As far as Shadow Sae was concerned, Makoto was going to follow those footsteps right into the grave. "Dying to uphold justice isn't noble, MAKOTO!" Shadow Sae angrily lunged at Queen, who summoned Anat. Shadow Sae fired her gun, but she was unable to track Queen's movements properly.
"And what's noble about this justice, sis!?" Queen screamed in retaliation. "How many times do I have to say this!? This isn't you!" As Shadow Sae took a swung at her, Queen ducked under the sword and quickly turned, slamming Anat into her sister's Shadow to make her stagger. "I already made the decision to follow my convictions a long time ago, and that starts with saving you!"
"You!? Save me!? What do you intend to do on your own!?" Shadow Sae continued to shoot and swung at Queen, who did her best to avoid all of this. "I've provided everything you need!"
"That's not true!" Queen said while leaping forward on Anat, clashing with Shadow Sae's sword. "The one thing I'm missing from you, is the real you! When I became a Phantom Thief, it provided me with more than I ever could have expected! I have friends who are here, willing to help me bring you back to your old self. They helped me face the flaws of myself I was too afraid to on my own! I've still got a long way to go…but that strength is what carried me here. Staring at my own sister's fatal flaws is hard enough, but thanks to them, I can do it. If my justice of wanting to protect the things I care about isn't noble, I don't know what is!"
"You think you know more than me because of your friends?! Don't make me laugh!" Shadow Sae scoffed dismissively, firing off numerous rockets towards Queen. The amount was so high; the others could barely take a moment to intervene. This was a sister showdown now. The explosions followed closely behind Queen as she drove on Anat, but she didn't once think about slowing down.
"Do you know what I intend to do? I'm going full throttle and never looking back! That's what my heart decided on that day!" To reiterate her point, Queen put the pedal to the medal. Anat sped up and she jumped, the bike crashing into Shadow Sae with a violent sideswipe. This didn't happen just once, as Queen used the surrounding roulette to continue doing this a few times, much to Shadow Sae's irritation. Sae caught Queen on a drive by, her sword slamming into Queen. "Ngh…!" Queen grit her teeth as she tumbled along the ground, but she quickly summoned Anat once more and kept driving.
"If you follow our father's sense of justice, you'll be putting yourself into an early grave! Are you planning on leaving me behind just to prove a stupid point!?" Shadow Sae yelled.
"If you continue down this path, you'll have nothing left!" Queen objected. "You're too stubborn to see that, so I'm doing everything I can to open your eyes!"
"You-!" Shadow Sae was about to respond, but she was stopped when an arrow of light, and a sword of light pierced both her legs. "Ngh!?" She couldn't move…or rather, the only way she could move was by kneeling. The damage she sustained over the course of this battle rapidly caught up to her in this moment.
"I don't mean to intrude…but it is as Queen said." Dragon tilted her head, flashing a smile at Queen. "She is not alone."
"We're here for support." Crow added.
"Now!" Joker commanded. Everyone lunged forward for an All Out Attack while Shadow Sae was down. Everyone attacked from all angles with various attacks, not giving the casino owner a chance to breathe. Joker then rode up on top of Prometheus, mask burning away as a black dragon appeared behind him. "Seth!" The dragon opened its mouth and released a potent beam of fire in a line that exploded. Shadow Sae was caught up in this explosion and her body flung high into the air. "Queen!"
This was her chance. Queen rode Anat one last time, putting everything she had into this. She used the circular edge of the roulette as a ramp, propelling herself high into the air…but it wasn't high enough. So she pushed off Anat, now truly above Shadow Sae while rearing her fist back. Her fist a bright azure blue from the nuclear magic she was charging within it. "I'm going to take everything back, Sis! WITH THIS FIST OF JUSTICE!" Queen threw her fist towards Shadow Sae's chest, diving down towards the ground. The moment they made impact, a gigantic explosion of nuclear occurred and everyone had to brace themselves from the aftermath.
Everyone stared tensely at the cloud of smoke from Queen's final attack. As that smoke settled, Shadow Sae returned to normal. She was on a knee in front of an exhausted Queen. There was no point in fighting any longer. The outcome was clear. "So I've lost…"
Queen kneeled down, both because she was tired, and because she wanted to be eye level with her sister. "Sis…!"
This happened in Mitsuyo's Palace too. Dragon was concerned for her mother's shadow, and now Queen was concerned for her sister's shadow. Crow just didn't get it. "That's only a Shadow. Why are you so… "
Panther jabbed Crow in the side with her elbow. "You might be hot, but you really need to read the room a bit more."
"Thank…you…?" Crow wasn't sure how to take that.
Since this was going to happen, Fox and Skull looked to each other. "We'll go grab the Treasure." Skull said. The others nodded, leaving Fox and Skull to take care of the Treasure.
Shadow Sae weakly looked towards Queen, then the cognitive version of Makoto. This was a little surreal now that she was thinking about it. "Makoto…?"
Makoto lifted her mask up, so Shadow Sae could look at her face to face. "I don't think it's wrong to bring light to evils which can't be judged by the law. That's all the Phantom Thieves have been trying to do, too. But these aggressive investigations? Twisting the truth for your own gain?" She shook her head. "Please, you have to think back to the feelings you had when you first wanted to be a prosecutor. Think about your justice, Sis. Not the justice you think you have to carry out."
"My justice…" Shadow Sae mumbled.
"Try to remember how you used to be…" Makoto pleaded.
"How I…" Shadow Sae trailed off.
"Niijima-san is just like my father…" Noir frowned.
"My mother too…" Dragon sighed. "But they weren't always like this…what happened to them…"
"Even though their own desires were the cause, succumbing to such distorted thoughts is strange." Crow was aware of their circumstances, but something odd stuck out to him. "Was there another reason they don't know of?"
That train of thought was ended when Fox called out to them. "We found it." He and Skull returned, Skull holding a suitcase in his hand.
That was a relief. "The investigation will now be able to proceed." Crow told the others. "The suspicions against you will be lifted as well. This deal we made…was a great experience for me."
"I bet…" Skull grumbled.
"To think that I, a detective, would act alongside the Phantom Thieves." Crow found this rather amusing now that things turned out well.
"Yeah, well…back to your real work now." Joker said. The deal was that the Phantom Thieves break off after this operation. It was meant to be their last, after all.
"Are you sure you don't want to continue?" Dragon asked, though it was mostly jokingly.
"Unfortunately, this will be the end of our working together." Crow responded. "That was part of our deal after all."
"All right, we don't need to stay here any longer." Mona said, before turning to Queen. "Are you alright?"
Queen took a moment, staring at Shadow Sae, and then her cognitive self, who took that conversation in. She took a deep breath, then stood back up. "I am. Let's go."
Everything was about to end peacefully until Oracle began to panic. "Huh!? Enemy readings…and they're outside!?"
"What!?"
"For real!? The hell's going on…!" Skull's eyes widened. Oracle pulled up a screen and everyone could see exactly what they were dealing with.
"L-Look at those numbers…!" Fox gasped.
"We…are vastly outnumbered…" Dragon didn't like these odds.
"This doesn't look good…" Panther began to sweat.
"We defeated the Palace ruler and even stole the Treasure, yet the Shadows are still restless…" Mona narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't make any sense! What's going on here…!?"
Multiple Shadows were actively spawning as they spoke. "This is going to be bad if we don't do something…!" And to add on top of this, Oracle could hear a muffled transmission as well. "Huh…?"
"We need to go NOW!" Mona exclaimed. "Those guys in black suits are almost here. We'll be done for if we get surrounded!"
"But…a team this large would be discovered immediately…" Queen muttered. "We'll need to split up into teams to escape, although we'll need someone to act as a decoy…no, that's too dangerous…"
"Go, everyone." Joker's voice caught everyone's attention. "I'll do it."
"Joker…!" Dragon looked Joker's way.
"Are you going to distract them by yourself…!?" Queen gasped.
"Let him go, you two." Skull's tone dropped to something more serious. "He's quiet, but once his mind's made up, he's not gonna take no for an answer." Skull locked eyes with Joker, handing him the suitcase with the Treasure. "I'm sure you ain't gonna die. It's you we're talking about."
"Please don't do anything reckless, okay…?" Noir pleaded.
"I'll never forgive you if you don't make it back!" Panther shouted.
"We're still not done with our deal, remember?" Mona said.
"Don't you dare get pinched." Dragon had an expecting glare towards Ren.
"Hah…with all the tactics you've taught me? Catching me will be the hardest thing they've ever done." Joker's confidence was reassuring. Dragon was able to smile in response to that.
"Even more are coming…!" Oracle warned. They didn't have the time to stand around.
"This truly is a reluctant parting…!" Fox frowned.
"But we really must be going." Crow said.
Queen looked back at Shadow Sae and her cognitive self one last time… "…"
"Go…" Shadow Sae said softly to her sister.
"You can go out…that way…" Cognitive Makoto pointed to a back door. She wouldn't be useless…how could she be, when the other version of her was so dependable. "I'll watch Sis…."
Queen nodded to the both of them, managing a bittersweet smile before turning to Joker. "We'll see you later…"
"See you later." With that, Joker left the others behind and went on his own. They may have defeated Shadow Sae and obtained the Treasure…but compared to what was coming, that was only the opening act. The curtain rose, and now, the real show was about to begin…